CIVIL
Friday, March 20, 2020
Green house effect: Friend or foe
CO2,
Methane, water vapour, black carbon (due to incomplete combustion of solid
fuels), N2O, CFCS, Hydrofluro carbon, oxides of sulphur,
Halon, Tetra Flouro methane etc are present in atmosphere which are transparent
to short waves but absorbs long waves emitted by the earth surface are known as
green house gases and their effect is collectively known as green
house effect.
Positive aspects
1. Green house gases are responsible for
maintenance of habitable temperature.
2. According to one estimate of IPCC
(Intergovernmental panel on climate change) in the absence of green house
gases, temperature of the earth surface and lower atmosphere will drop to -10
to -20 degree Celsius depending upon the localized concentration of green house
gases.
3. Green house gases are responsible for
maintenance of low diurnal range of temperature.
4. Increase in the concentration of CO2
which is main green house gas, is responsible for increase in dark rate
of dark reaction of photosynthesis. As a result, it increases overall
productivity up to 30% to 40%. This is termed as CO2 fertilization
effect as CO2 is behaving almost as fertilizers.
Negative aspects
1. Main cause for global warming. Global
warming means gradual increase of temperature of earth’s surface and lower
atmosphere due to absorbance of long waves emitted by earth’s surface.
2. Due to global warming the glaciers
are melting at a faster rate and increasing the level of oceans. Due to this
the coastal areas are endangered to be submerged by 2050.
Now you can
decide whether it is useful to us or not.
We can
control this effect by lowering our carbon footprints and planting more trees.
AUTHOR:
